Playwrights Jordan E. Cooper, Donnetta Lavinia Grays, and Sylvia Khoury have been named the 2021 Whiting Award winners for drama. The announcement was made during a virtual ceremony April 14. Each theatre artist will receive a $50,000 prize.
The awards, created in 1986, are given to recognize early-career achievement and to empower recipients to fulfill the promise of exceptional literary work to come. This year鈥檚 digital honors included a keynote by former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith, a 2005 Whiting Award winner, and brief readings from each winner, introduced by 2015 winner Elena Passarello.
Cooper (Black Boy Fly, Alice Wonder) of Ain鈥檛 No Mo鈥� at The Public Theater in 2019. The satirical odyssey depicts a great exodus of Black Americans. During the pandemic, the theatre artist and created the short film , starring Tony nominees Danielle Brooks and Da'Vine Joy Randolph.
Grays (Warriors Don鈥檛 Cry, Last Night and the Night Before) wrote and starred in the world premiere of Where We Stand in 2020 at the WP Theater. During the pandemic, the theatre artist the Geffen Playhouse鈥檚 The Writers' Room 2020鈥�2021 cycle and The New York Community Trust鈥檚 Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, along with . A virtual production of Where We Stand as part of Steppenwolf鈥檚 NOW season.
-Matthew-Murphy.jpg)
